Scotland is home to its own temperate rainforest boasting a variety of rare species and habitats. The Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest has defined Scotland’s rainforest as any native woodland within the hyper-oceanic zone of the west coast of Scotland.

The rainforest is recognised as an extremely valuable habitat as the high levels of rainfall and relatively mild, year-round temperatures provide just the right conditions for an abundance of ferns and rare bryophytes and lichens. All woodlands within the zone play an important role with the largest and some of the highest quality areas of rainforest located around the sea lochs and Atlantic coast of Lochaber, Lorne and Mid Argyll.

The Scottish Government is committed to restoring and expanding Scotland’s temperate or Atlantic rainforest. This is a policy priority set out in Scotland’s Forestry Strategy and the 2023 Programme for Government.

This strategic approach to restoring and expanding Scotland’s rainforest restoring and expanding Scotland’s rainforest aims to accelerate delivery in tackling the challenges facing these iconic native woodlands and identify the practical steps the Scottish Government and its partners can take to help the restoration and expansion of Scotland’s rainforest. Recognising funding constraints, it sets out how this will be implemented over the next three years and sustained over the longer term.

There is a need to work co-operatively at a scale which addresses local populations of the key threats, often referred to as working at a landscape scale. The approach builds on the work of the Alliance for Scotland’s Rainforest and is based on partnership working and co-operation.

Delivery of restoration and expansion of Scotland’s rainforest will make a significant contribution to the priorities in Scotland’s Forestry and Biodiversity strategies. Scottish Forestry will work with partners to implement this strategic approach, monitor and report on progress.